Edward Frieman, former director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, dies at 87

During World War II, Edward Frieman was a Navy deep-sea diver. After the war, he participated in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, an experience that shaped his career as a leader in plasma physics and fusion therapy, a government adviser, and director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

“Ed was a true pioneer and a visionary,” said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a cloud physics specialist. “Twenty years ago, he led a group of leading intellectuals and published an influential National Academy report on sustainability science that paved the way for the pursuit of sustainability as a scientific discipline in universities.”

Dr. Frieman, 87, died of respiratory illness and lung cancer April 11 at UCSD’s Thornton Hospital.

Appointed director in 1986, Dr. Frieman was credited with attracting top scientists and expanding the institution’s research expertise in climate change. He became director emeritus upon retiring in 1996.

“Ed Frieman was one of the great leaders in American science, and a cornerstone to UCSD’s success as a great university,” said Richard Atkinson, former UCSD chancellor.

“Many have benefited from his advocacy, some without even being aware of Ed’s contributions.”

Edward Allan Frieman was born Jan. 19, 1926, in New York City, the elder of two children to Joseph Frieman and Belle Davidson Frieman. He received a bachelor’s degree in engineering in 1946 from Columbia University in New York. He earned his master’s degree in physics in 1948 and a doctorate in physics in 1952 from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.

In 1952, Dr. Frieman studied nuclear fusion on the classified Project Matterhorn at Princeton University. Within two years, he was head of the project’s theoretical division, and in 1961, joined the faculty as an astrophysical science professor.

“I knew he was a world-famous physicist, but until later I did not appreciate that I was being taught by one of the most effective statesmen of science of his generation,” said Charles Kennel, a former student and Scripps institution director from 1998 to 2006. “As my predecessor at Scripps, Ed saw early that science would change with the end of the Cold War. In response, he led Scripps to its present leadership in global change science while still keeping close ties with the U.S. Navy.”

Frieman was associate director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory until 1979, when he accepted an invitation from President Jimmy Carter’s administration to be the director of the Office of Energy Research and assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy. There, he oversaw basic science research and participated in public discussions about controversial synthetic fuels and nuclear waste disposal.

Dr. Frieman also served on the White House Science Council and on the Vice President’s Science Advisory Board during Reagan’s presidency. Before joining Scripps, he was executive vice president for Science Applications International Corp. in La Jolla.

His awards include a Department of Energy Distinguished Service Medal in 1980 and the Richtmyer Award from the American Physical Society in 1984. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among other groups.

“He always made it a point to be well-informed over a broad range of scientific topics,” said Walter Munk, who worked with Dr. Frieman on JASON, a scientific advisory group. “I appreciated his elegant shyness.”

Dr. Frieman is survived by his wife, Joy Fields Frieman of La Jolla; sons Jonathan of San Rafael, Michael of Denver, and Joshua of Evanston, Ill.; daughters Linda Holiner of Dover, Mass., and Wendy Frieman of Falls Church, Va.; seven grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

A celebration of life will be held at Scripps Institution of Oceanography this summer. The family suggests donations to La Jolla Music Society or Scripps Institution of Oceanography, In Honor of Edward A. Frieman, 9500 Gilman Drive, 0210, La Jolla, CA 92093-0210.